 |
POP & ROCK
TWO MAN GENTLEMEN BAND Kazoos, cornets, quality musicianship, and comic interludes are what this hybrid jazz-R&B-country duo is all about. Three men who dug Two Man recently were Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp, who had the “neo-vaudevillian’’ act open a few of their recent shows. 9 p.m. Aug. 6. $10. Johnny D’s. 617-776-2004. www.johnnyds.comJOHN LEGEND It’s going to be a night of hot-buttered soul, no diggity, as Legend and opening act India.Arie - two of the smoothest kids on the contemporary R&B scene - team up to spread their wisdom about life and love. 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7. $30-$60.
BLAZED AND CONFUSED TOUR WITH SNOOP DOGG, SLIGHTLY STOOPID & STEPHEN MARLEY It’s going to be a night clouded with fragrant smoke no doubt as one of rap’s slyest MCs, the rocksteady punks, and one of reggae’s most gifted royal progeny spark up a friendship in Mansfield. Glam rapper Mickey Avalon rounds out the bill. 6 p.m. Aug. 8. $13.50-$30.15.
SEAN BONES Not quite reggae and not purely indie rock, Bones splits the difference on his infectious new album, “Rings,’’ which grooves along like the perfect soundtrack for a summer day at the beach. 10 p.m. Aug. 9. $8. T.T. the Bear’s. 617-492-2327. www.ticketweb.com SARAH RODMAN
FOLK, WORLD & COUNTRY
THREE DAY THRESHOLD Considering some of their song titles - “Whiskey, You’re the Devil,’’ “Pub With No Beer’’ - these rowdy roots-rockers from Somerville should feel right at home at Atwood’s for their Thursday-night residency. 10 p.m. Aug. 6 (and every Thursday this month). Free. Atwood’s Tavern. 617-864-2792. www.atwoodstavern.comKAZZABE Proof that music doesn’t live in a vacuum, this collective from Honduras plays a relentlessly infectious blend of Afrobeat and Latin rhythms. To help get the dance floor bumping, they’ll be joined by fellow countrymen Los Silver Star. 8 p.m. Aug. 8. Club Lido (Revere). 617-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com
JASON ALDEAN If slow and steady wins the race, this country star is poised for victory as he’s been amassing hits like “Johnny Cash’’ and “She’s Country’’ over the past four years that satisfyingly combine twang and bang. 6 p.m. Aug. 12. $32.75. Campanelli Stadium. 508-559-7070. www.brocktonrox.com JAMES REED
JAZZ, BLUES & CABARET
NICK GRONDIN The 26-year-old, award-winning guitarist, composer, and arranger’s vibrant, cinematic new album, “Songteller - the Jazz Orchestra Project,’’ features not only a kaleidoscopic, big-band arrangement of the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever,’’ but also a swaggering, earthy tribute to Charles Mingus, among other tunes. Tonight, Grondin and his talented nonet celebrate his new release. 7:30 p.m. Aug. 6. $15. Regattabar. 617-395-7757. www.regattabarjazz.comMISS TESS & THE BON TON PARADE The Maryland-born, Boston-based singer and songwriter was named in these pages last year as a “local on the verge’’ for the smart, sassy amalgam of swing, blues, and folk/country she calls “modern vintage,’’ reminiscent of everyone from Bessie Smith to Peggy Lee to Tom Waits. 8 p.m. Aug. 7. $12-$15. Amazing Things Arts Center, 160 Hollis St., Framingham. 508-405- 2787. www.amazingthings.org
MATTHEW SHIPP A solo performance by the acclaimed left-of-center pianist. His influences include modern classical music as well as jazz greats Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor, and he has played with avant-gardists of all stripes, from Roscoe Mitchell to DJ Spooky. 8 p.m. Aug. 8. $10. Outpost 186, 186 1/2 Hampshire St., Cambridge. 617-876-0860. www.zeitgeist-outpost.org
NEW GUITAR SUMMIT Marblehead Summer Jazz presents three consummate guitarists joining forces for a free-wheeling jazz jam: blues-rock great Jay Geils, swing stylist Gerry Beaudoin, and the amazing Howard Alden, best known for dubbing Sean Penn’s Django-influenced guitar in Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown.’’ 8 p.m. Aug. 8. $26-$28. Unitarian-Universalist Church, 28 Mugford St., Marblehead. 781-631-1528. www.marbleheadjazz.org KEVIN LOWENTHAL
CLASSICAL
TANGLEWOOD The annual Festival of Contemporary Music begins tomorrow and is directed this year by Augusta Read Thomas. She’s aiming to cast a wide net with seven scheduled concerts devoted to works by 38 composers hailing from 13 countries. The premieres come from composers ranging in age from 26 to 100, and there’s no mystery of course about the centenarian: Elliott Carter’s new “Zukofsky Songs’’ get a first performance on Sunday night. Meanwhile, down the path and across the lawn, the other Tanglewood continues with Keith Lockhart leading the Pops, and Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos and Julian Kuerti leading the BSO, the latter in a Sunday matinee program with Yo-Yo Ma. 617-266-1200 or www.tanglewood.org.BOSTON MIDSUMMER OPERA This well-timed chamber opera initiative is staging its first complete opera, Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte,’’ directed by Drew Minter. Susan Davenny Wyner conducts a cast of young singers who will perform the work in English translation. Aug. 7 and 9, $20-$50, Tsai Performance Center at Boston University, 617-227-0442 or www.bostonmidsummeropera.org.
CAPE COD CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL On Monday, the Tokyo String Quartet drops by First Congregational Church in Wellfleet for a program of works by Beethoven, Berg, and Brahms with guest clarinetist Jon Manasse. On Tuesday at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, the festival’s artistic directors, Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu, will premiere a new work for clarinet and piano by Paquito D’Rivera. Aug. 10 and 11, 508-945-8060 or www.capecodchambermusic.org.
BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA The series of free performances on the Esplanade continues this week with Charles Ansbacher leading the orchestra and singers from the Boston Lyric Opera in excerpts from the company’s new season, which includes Bizet’s “Carmen,’’ Mozart’s “Idomeneo,’’ and Britten’s “Turn of the Screw.’’ Aug. 12, 7 p.m., Hatch Shell at the Esplanade, 617-520-2200, www.landmarksorchestra.org.
JEREMY EICHLER 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
